Tuscan leader vows to keep Costa Concordia work local

Local authorities attempt to force $275m demolition contract to be kept in Italy ahead of decisive Rome meeting next week, putting the $30m deal at risk from Boskalis for the use of the semi-submersible heavylift ship Dockwise Vanguard

The president of Tuscany has said he will ban the semi-submersible heavylift ship Dockwise Vanguard from approaching the Island of Giglio in a statement that seems set to make sure that the wreck of the Costa Concordia will be demolished in Italy.

Enrico Rossi says he is ready to physically prevent the Boskalis vessel, the largest of its type in the world, from entering the region to lift and transport the wreck because of environmental hazards. Lifting the stricken cruiseship onto the 117,000-ton-lift-capacity Dockwise Vanguard (built 2012) runs the risk of displacing thousands of tons of water, much of it polluted by the ship’s sewage and other contaminants.

Rossi is prepared to “deploy a small chain of boats around the wreck to protect it” from the Dockwise Vanguard.

The move would, in effect, prevent the wreck being transported to breaking yards in the UK, France or Turkey that are bidding for the job.

Instead, it will leave the owner and its underwriters with little option but to break up the rusting hulk at the Italian ports of Genoa or Piombino, which are desperate to take on the ship for economic reasons, and are only five days’ sailing away in Italy.

One local source closely connected with the project predicted: “She won’t be leaving Italy.”